Archive for the ‘Philadelphia Eagles’ Category

Behind enemy lines in Philly, spoke with a family friend who is a lifelong Eagles fan. He knows the Eagles inside out, goes to all the games. This is what he said:

1) After 10 years of Reid, he has to be removed.

2) Reid as head coach AND General Manager is not a good combination.

3) Eagles have never had a FB, it kills their short ground game. Reid is the GM, the blame goes back to him for never having one.

4) Yes, Jackson is good, but opposing defenses are going over the top (cover2) now to limit him. He has ONE TD all season, the Giants end-around, so as good an impact as he has made, he is still a rookie and is now reaching a ceiling. Lack of WR is going to be traced back to Reid as GM.

5) Short yardage a killer for the Eagles all season, Bears, Giants, Ravens games only a few examples. The reason why is that their Center and Guard (Jackson and Herremans) are bad, Andrews is terrific but he has been in and out of the lineup due to injury (only 2 starts this season). Andrews can cover up for them when he is in, but only so much. These guys are better in pass protect, but cannot run block to save themselves. Pretty nasty derogatory remarks about Herremans in particular.

6) Reid has lost his mind. When McNabb came into the league, Reid orchestrated McNabb’s introduction very carefully, picking the week after a bye when the opponent was a weak Redskins team. Contrast that with how he now put in Kolb… against a stronger Ravens defense at halftime! Not helping the rookie one bit with that move.

7) Eagles fans unfortunately may have to see McNabb go somewhere else (Vikings?) and then watch as he becomes successful there, the same way Cunningham became successful with Carter and Moss. This is not preferred to see McNabb leave.. keep him for another coach and see how he does.

8) The moves by the Eagles to trade their first round pick down to the second round are very good, but the problem is that the Eagles are still poor evaluators of talent and the draft is not benefitting them nearly enough. And since Reid is the GM too, the blame once again goes right back to him. Add the fact that he is a terrible in-game manager and the worst clock manager, and his time is up. You spend 10 years as a head coach and you do not win a title, time to move on.

Wonder: “Washington on TOs, will harass Kurt Warner, he’ll make a few mistakes. If even on turnovers, Ariz will win the game. But I expect them to turn over the ball and Wash will win. Pitt plays defense, the Eagles don’t, I like Pitt. GB to win the game because Dallas is the better team but on a short week GB will win the game. Emotional Monday night game, tough comeback game for Dallas.”

Wonder: “I was impressed with the Giants on Monday night.”

Ultimatenyg: Explain.

Wonder: “Neither team (Dal or Phi) could stop the run or pass, the Giants have the best defense in the NFC East, and that will give your team an advantage. At some point they will play a close game that matters and the Giants’ defense will be the difference.

Ultimatenyg: But both offenses made those defenses look weak.

Wonder: “BULLBLEEP! It’s simple- great defense always will give a great offense fits. What kind of s*** is that that Desean Jackson or TO gets behind the defense by TEN YARDS! Neither team looked good defensively up the middle or on the edges. Poor tackling. Horrible! Couldn’t pressure the pocket.

Ultimatenyg: But both team have excellent offensive lines..

Wonder: “Dallas yes, but the PHI offensive line is overrated, susceptible. Defensive line and defensive pressure are what separates the Giants. If DeMarcus Ware does not get to the QB then Dallas does not get to the QB. The Giants just line up and beat you one on one and that will be the difference. The Eagles defensive pressure can only beat you with schemes and blitzes. Your team is a lot better than I thought w/o Osi. They are the most well-rounded team in a very tough division.”

The only way to do battle is to vote with your feet. I had heard that Eagles fans had to put up 5K for the seat licenses, so Thursday’s announcement that it would be 1K for 90% of the upper tier (where I sit), it was almost good news. Zero would be better. But for the same reason that economically the Giants can charge it, you the season’s ticket holder better buy that license because the resale will be worth a lot more than 1K in the secondary market. So don’t get too misty about Wellington being gone, because many of the Giants fans out there have an instant economic boon coming if they want that. And if they just want to go to games and not have to pay for the right, at least you can buy the license and then resell it and use the proceeds for ~8 years of home games from Giants tickets exchange. All I am saying is that it could be a lot worse too– if the Giants put this thing into a Dutch Auction, you would be paying a lot more than they will be charging. And another thing… how many of you out there have been on the waiting list for over 10 years and now finally see an opportunity to get into the freaking stadium with your own seats?! I didn’t make any of these rules, but it is far more complicated than just being pissed at the Maras and the Tisches. It kind of reminds me of Manhattan renters who cry about having no rights… yet there they are not complaining about getting the insider’s price on a condo/coop conversion, OR having their apartment rent-controlled at below market prices, which CREATES the high prices for Manhattan apartments in the first place. Giants seasons tickets holders have been on rent stabilization for a while now. As a ‘renter’ you are entitled to NOTHING. Take risk and OWN. Or walk.

Eagles misery? Bring it on. There is very little that is better than to hear old tales of Eagles misery at the hands of our Giants warriors. The picture is sweet not only because we know McNabb is about to be sacked, but also because it has Runyan already on his back. Earlier this month we had some reflections from the Eagles on Michael Strahan. They are happy he is gone. They knew and understood that Michael was not the greatest player of all time, but he was the consummate professional who got the job done every season. Sacking the QB, stopping the run, blowing up screens, disrupting the defense wherever he could. He’ll be missed here. He won’t be missed there.

These stats on the record of the Eagles the past three seasons (0.500) are incredibly deceptive. McNabb, Westbrook and Kearse all have had major injuries at various junctures, and the team MUST be viewed in that context. Before anyone gets too in love with our ‘superior’ Giants, you must remember that we SQUEAKED by this team the past few games with MANY EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES. I can hear it already—‘ya call 6 sacks from Osi extenuating?’…. YES I DO! Osi had the joy of going up against rookie Winston Justice and for some BIRD-brained reason they did not give him help. Maybe some of that reason was that the Eagles so injury-riddled that they could not hide anywhere else either. This was the debut of the 4-headed monster rush where Spags started sending Kiwi and Tuck up the middle while Strahan and Osi went on their own missions. But the big picture here is that the Giants had such a huge advantage over this team because of injuries. And then when we played them again later in the season we beat them by a FG and Akers could have sent it to OT if not for a narrow miss when he hit the right upright.

This is a game of inches, and while our memories of this wonderful season will last a LIFETIME, do not forget that we were not exactly dominant over ANYBODY. About the only game that you could have comfortably lit up an Auerbach cigar for was against Atlanta. Even the 49er game was a travesty of missed opptys until Osi broke it open. So the message here is simple- do not underestimate Philadelphia one bit, because if they are healthy they are a bear. I like it a lot because I have always been advocating that a strong NFC East will be good for the Giants… I see a strong NFC this year and that means that someone from our division can go very far because they will be tested and ready.

The explanation: Fact #4 below-Chicago Bears General Manager Jerry Angelo called the class of safeties in the draft “anemic.” Fact #1-With Wilson entering free agency, Dahl cut, and Butler (too slow) a liability, one would think the Giants would desperately need to hold onto the services of Wilson. But not when the price elevates. When was the last time you saw the Giants “pay up” for anything?

More than a few people still hold out hope that Gibril Wilson can somehow sign with the Giants in an 11th hour move (i.e. like O’Hara last year) if the Giants would come close to the kind of numbers he would get as a free agent. Fact #2- The talk out of the combine had more than a few (3, to be exact) unnamed teams interested in Wilson beyond the rumored teams of the Broncos and Eagles. Hmmm, let’s get this straight:

1) your own team wants you back2) as many as FIVE other teams are interested in you once you hit free agency3) you are considered the best safety out there in this crop of free agents4) there is a dearth of skill coming through at the Draft in April5) the ever-expanding salary cap has plenty of teams with plenty of money to spend

If I was Wilson’s agent, I would be telling him to go to free agency too. He is making the right move. The Giants organization does not chase players, and this is a chase all right. Wilson got his ring, and we return to the scene of the George B. Young crime: it is all about the money. The Giants never truly succumbed to the economic reality of last year’s jump in the cap from the Collective Bargaining Agreement. And they are not willing to swallow that medicine again this year (not yet at least) when free agency begins at the stroke of midnight. By winning the Super Bowl, why should they? They view themselves as right for not going wild in free agency last year. The only problem with this logic is that Wilson is a good ‘team’ player who will get paid. And if the Giants make a mistake of not paying “enough” to keep him… WHERE ENOUGH=FAIR, then that is a mistake. My read on the situation is simply that what the market ends up going to will be determined by the Giants as mildly extreme.

The Giants are a conservative organization. They do not set prices, they join the price when it is set. As an example of this, the Giants always like to wait until the 16th or 17th pick in the draft has done his contract, as well as the 20th pick, so that they can THEN set the contract for their 19th pick. One of these other alleged five teams with interest in Wilson will go after him, the Giants will watch, and Wilson will get his money elsewhere.